A spokesperson for the Falluja protesters, Khaled Hamoud, tells Al-Shorfa,
"Today's demonstrations are no different from previous demonstrations
in terms of the demands and rights we are seeking. We hope that the
government will meet them and we are determined to continue our peaceful
demonstrations." Morning Star quotes
from Cleric Abdul-Hameed Jadoua who addressed the Falluja protesters
telling them "the blood of martyrs was shed so that the dignity of our
Iraq and our tribes will be restored. [. . .] From this place, we tell
the government that we do not want to see a soldier from now on, not
only in Fallujah, but in all its suburbs and villages." The Christian Science Monitor and Al Jazeera correspondent Jane Arraf Tweeted the following on the Falluja protest today.

Kitabat notes today's protests are a tribute to the Falluja martyrs who were killed last week.

Friday, January 25th, Nouri al-Maliki's armed thugs in Falluja fired on protesters killing at least seven (Alsumaria reported
Saturday that another of the victims has died from wounds raising the
death toll from six to seven) and sixty more were left injured. TodayKitabat reports four more victims of last Friday's violence have died
bringing the death toll to 11. Protesters in Falluja were marching and
taking part in a sit-in when the military opened fire on them. Anbar
Province has sworn out arrest warrants for the soldiers. Rami G. Khouri (Daily Star) sees similarities between Egypt and Iraq: The same applies to the tens of thousands of demonstrators in Iraq, who,
like their Egyptian counterparts, are protesting the killing of
demonstrators by the security services as well as a wider sense that the
central government is not addressing the socio-economic and political
rights of all citizens with diligence or fairness. In both cases, many
ordinary citizens feel that one group is trying to monopolize power and
seize control of the state. The Iraqi and Egyptian leaders have both
acted with an authoritarianism that remind us of their predecessors’
policies in many ways., which Arabs now wish to leave behind them for
good.

Dar Addustour notes that Nouri met for six hours mid-week with armed forces commanders to discuss/anticipate today's protests. Kitabat explains
that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis took part in protests today
throughout Anbar Province, Kirkuk Province, Nineveh Province, Diyala
Province and Salahuddin following morning prayers. Dar Addustour quotes
from Sheikh Abdul Hamid Jadou's sermon where he said that the prime
minister needed to hear the protesters. The Sheikh declared that
positions don't last, the world does not last but God watches and Nouri
needs to do the right thing. Alsumaria notes
that protesters in Kirkuk marched calling for government to implement
their demands and calling for loyalty to the Falluja martyrs and that the heads of the tribal clans in Anbar, Salahuddin and Nineveh Province are declaring Nouri needs to listen to the protesters. Al Jazeera reports:Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf, reporting from Fallujah, said many had
walked for hours to attend Friday's protest and had turned the highway
into a mosque for the weekly prayers."Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is under increasing pressure to
listen to their demands," she said, adding that a lot of the protesters,
mostly young men, were unemployed and that a lot of them have been in
jail."They feel they've been neglected by the Shia government," she said.

World Bulletin observes, "The protests are evolving in the most serious test yet for Maliki and
his fragile government that splits posts among Shi'ite, Sunni and ethnic
Kurds, who were already deadlocked over how to share power for more
than a year." In a report for the Christian Science Monitor, Jane Arraf explains:The Anbar demonstrations began in December, with protesters demanding an
end to perceived targeting of Sunni Muslims after the arrest of the
Sunni finance minister’s bodyguards on terrorism charges. But it is the
arrests of dozens of Iraqi women that have infuriated many in this
fiercely tribal area. That anger has spread to Sunni areas in Baghdad and to provinces farther north, and both Al Qaeda in Iraq and mainstream political figures have been quick to join the fray.

Most recently, in November, federal police invaded 11 homes in the
town of al-Tajji, north of Baghdad, and detained 41 people, including 29
children, overnight in their homes. Sources close to the detainees, who
requested anonymity, said police took 12 women and girls ages 11 to 60
to 6thBrigade headquarters and held them there for four days
without charge. The sources said the police beat the women and tortured
them with electric shocks and plastic bags placed over their heads
until they began to suffocate.Despite widespread outcry over abuse and rape of women in pre-trial
detention, the government has not investigated or held the abusers
accountable. In response to mass protests over the treatment of female
detainees, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued a pardon for 11
detainees. However, hundreds more women remain in detention, many of
whom allege they have been tortured and have not had access to a proper
defense.

On the topic of the call to release prisoners, this call has been a constant of the recent wave
of protests and was also a part of the 2011 protests. Iraqis disappear
into the 'legal system' and their families can't find them. Article IV
allows the security forces to arrest relatives of suspects. Relatives
who are not charged with anything languish in detention centers and
prisons. The Sunni population feels they are especially targeted by
Nouri --
both with regards to arrests and with regards to being put to death.

Staying with violence, as noted in the October 15th snapshot, Iraq had already executed 119 people in 2012. Time to add more to that total. Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reported
last night that 10 more people were executed on Sunday ("nine Iraqis
and one Egyptian"). Tawfeeq notes the Ministry of Justice's statement
on the executions includes, "The Iraqi Justice Ministry carried out the
executions by hanging 10 inmates after it was approved by the
presidential council." And, not noted in the report, that number's only
going to climb. A number of Saudi prisoners have been moved into
Baghdad over the last weeks in anticipation of the prisoners being
executed. Hou Qiang (Xinhua) observes, "Increasing
executions in Iraq sparked calls by the UN mission in the country, the
European Union and human rights groups on Baghdad to abolish the capital
punishment, criticizing the lack of transparency in the proceedings of
the country's courts."

AFP reported
yesterday that already this year Iraq has executed 91 people -- yes,
we're still at the start of 2013 -- 88 men and 3 women. The United
Nations Secretary-General has personally called on Iraq to put in place a
moratorium on executions but Nouri al-Maliki has rejected that. Iraq's
recent prison breaks have often been tied to executions. Most press
outlets (non-Iraqi) simply report that some death row prisoners escaped.
But often, the escape follows the news that prisoners will be moved to
Baghdad (to be executed).

Today, All Iraq News adds
that Nouri al-Maliki gave an interview where he insisted that all
legitimate demands of the protesters will be listened to if they show
patience. Patience? Like when he asked them to be patient in 2011 and
give him 100 days to fix corruption and other problems. 100 day are
finally over and he hasn't done a damn thing but lie and use his lies to
get people off the street.

It's gonna rainIt's gonna rainIt's gonna rain down tearsOf heartaches and fearsIt's gonna rainIt's gonna rainI know for sure'Cause you don't reach for me no more-- "Clouds," written by Nickolas Ashford and ValerieSimpson, first appears on Chaka Khan's Naughty album

Just
like Nouri's going to solve the problems of the protesters, he's also
heading a committee to solve the problems of the rainfall.

Earlier week, Aswat al-Iraq reported people in the capitol were saying that "Baghdad was drowned in a lake of mud and dirty water."All Iraq News notes that the highest rainfall in recent days has been in Tuz Khurmato. That's in Salahuddin Province and that's the province, All Iraq News notes, where three villages are sinking. 2,000 homes have also sunk in Tikrit in what's being called "The Tikrit Disaster." All Iraq News notes
that a village in Salahuddin Province was threatened yesterday when a
dam collapsed and that 1500 families have been relocated by the Iraqi
Red Crescent Society due to the flooding. Alsumaria speaks
with Salahuddin Province Governor Ahmed Abdullah al-Jubouri who
explains that in the entire province, 6000 families have been evacuated
from their homes -- six-thousand families. The flooding is due to the
rain, yes, but it's also due to the fact that Nouri refuses to spend
money to improve the sewers and other infrastructure. So when heavy
rains fall, the water pools. It's not diverted anywhere, it doesn't
drain. When heavy rains fall for several days in a row -- as has
happened this week -- you end up with serious problems. For example,
the Tigris River is flooding. Alsumaria reports
that Salah Abdul Razzuq, Governor of Baghdad, has called for citizens
residing on and near the banks of the Tigris to evacuate their homes
because the last two days alone has seen the river's water levels rise
approximately 75%.

Again, this is about Iraq's crumbling
infrastructure. Iraq is not a poor country. What other country with
less than 30 million people can claim a federal government budget of 100 billion in US dollars?
The money is there to fix the infrastructure and do other needed
things. It's just not being spent as it needs to be. It just seems to
go quickly into the bank accounts of various Iraqi figures. 100 billion
dollars for 2012 in a country of less than 30 million? The government
could have just given every citizen 3 million in US dollars and still
had sizable pocket change. Instead, Kitabat reports
that you can find everyone scavenging in Baghdad through the waste --
the standing waste. Children dig through it hoping to find toys and
adults dig through it looking for anything they might sell to bring in
some needed income for their family. This standing waste, in the
country's capital, is an embarrassment and it's health menace. For
public health reasons alone, it should have been dealt with years ago.

Meanwhile Alsumaria notes
an armed attack in a Mosul home that's left 1 Iraqi soldier dead. On
the topic of violence, it is the end of the month and Prashant Rao (AFP)
Tweets:

(Vatican Radio) Pope Benedict XVI has granted ecclesiastical communion,
in accordance with Canon 76 § 2 of the code of canons of the Eastern
Churches to His Beatitude Raphael I Louis Sako, canonically elected
Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans in the Synod of Bishops of the
Church, held in Rome January 28, 2013.The Synod of Bishops of the
Chaldean Church, convoked by the Holy Father under the presidency of
Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental
Churches, canonically elected the Archbishop of Kirkuk, Patriarch of
Babylon of the Chaldeans on January 28th. The new patriarch succeeds
Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, and has chosen the name of Louis Raphael
Sako I".Born in Zakho (Iraq) July 4, 1948, Patriarch Sako completed
his primary studies in Mosul, before attending the local seminary of St.
John, run by the Dominican Fathers.Ordained a priest on June 1,
1974, he undertook the pastoral service at the Cathedral of Mosul until
1979. Sent to Rome, he attended the Pontifical Oriental Institute,
receiving his doctorate in Eastern Patristics. He later received his
doctorate in history from the Sorbonne in Paris. On returning to Mosul
in 1986, he was appointed parish priest of the Parish of Perpetual Help.From
1997 to 2002 he held the office of Rector of the Patriarchal Seminary
in Baghdad. He then returned to Mosul took over pastoral care of the
Parish of Perpetual Help until the election as Archbishop of Kirkuk
September 27, 2003. He received episcopal ordination on 14 November.He has published several books on the Fathers of the Church and several articles.Apart from Arabic and Chaldean, the Patriarch speaks German, French, English and Italian.More to follow...

Alsumaria covers the news and adds that Archbishop Sako is the author of over 200 articles and 20 books on religion and theology. AFP covers the news here. In 2000, the US Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services prepared a fact sheet entitled "Iraq: Chaldean Christians" which included the following:

Chaldean and Assyrian Christians have the same ethnic and linguistic
background, though as Eastern Rite Catholics, Chaldeans recognize the
primacy of the Roman Catholic Pope while Assyrian Christians, who are
not Catholic, do not (Journalist 17 May 2000; Minority Rights Group
International 1997, 346). The Assyrians and Chaldeans are non-Arab,
though the Iraqi government defines them as Arab, purportedly to
increase identification of Iraqi Christians with the largely Sunni-Arab
regime in Baghdad. The Kurdish government in northern Iraq refers, at
least to Assyrians, as Kurdish Christians (USDOS 9 Sept. 1999).[. . .]1994 figures state that 220,945 of Iraq's Christians are Chaldean,
though this number may now be down to 200,000 (UK Immigration &
Nationality Directorate Sept. 1999). News sources state that there are
anywhere from 500,000 to two million Christians in Iraq, of which
Chaldeans reportedly predominate (Associated Press 26 Dec. 1998; The Economist Intelligence Unit
10 Feb. 2000; Knight-Ridder Tribune News 18 Feb. 1998). The US
Department of State cites "conservative estimates" which place over 95
percent of Iraq's population, estimated at 17,903,000 in 1991, as
Muslim, while the remaining less than 5 percent is broken down among
Christians, Yazidis, and Jews (9 Sept. 1999).

Turning to
the United States where Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Senate
Veterans Affairs Committee. Today her office issued the following:

(Washington,
D.C.) -- Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray released the following
statement after the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released a study
that provides more accurate information on veterans suicides. The
two-year study incorporates information from 42 states and includes data
on the suicide deaths of veterans who were not previously recorded
because they had not sought care or benefits from VA. This is an
important advancement that will help VA better understand veterans
mental health needs and do more to combat the epidemic of veteran
suicides. In August 2011
Senator Murray wrote to the National Governors Association urging
Governors across the country to provide information to the VA to help
them track the scope of veterans suicides.

"This data provides a
fuller, more accurate, and sadly, an even more alarming picture of
veteran suicide rates. And while I am encouraged that VA has worked to
collect the information needed to better understand the problem we face,
this must lead to action.

"I encourage VA and DoD to quickly
implement the Mental Health ACCESS act that I recently pushed through
Congress and that was signed into law this month. That law will help
streamline and improve suicide prevention programs while offering
veterans and their family's new avenues to mental health care.

"VA
also needs to do mroe to quickly bring on additional mental health
professionals to deal with the shortage veterans face, particularly in
rural areas. We cannot accept as unavoidable that VA facilities have
month-long wait times for appointments or that at-risk veterans feel
that they have nowhere to turn.

"We also need to do more to reach
out to the families of veterans so that they recognize warning signs,
know where to go for help, and have a support network of other veterans
and their families to lean on.

"This must not only be a top
priority for the VA, it has to be a top priority for the nation as a
whole if we are going to begin to make progress in reversing this deeply
troubling trend."###

Senator Richard Blumenthal: And I would like the same kind of
commitment that you've expressed very persuasively on the repeal of
Don't Ask, Don't Tell on the issue of sexual assaults. This issue
bedevils the military. I don't know whether you've seen an excellent
documentary entitled The Invisible War?Chuck Hagel: Yes.Senator Richard Blumenthal: And I know you're familiar with this
issue. I commend you for what you've said to me privately. And I would
ask that your commitment not only to the prosecution and holding
accountable people who are involved in this criminal conduct but also to
the victims so that they receive the kind of services that in the
civilian world, many of them do through victims' advocates in the courts
and similar kinds of roles played. So both to prosecution -- vigorous,
zealous -- but also to protection of the victims, can you commit to
that?Chuck Hagel: Absolutely, I'll commit to that.

And now
back to Iraq. Various outlets today turned out the notion that al
Qaeda in Iraq wanted to back the protesters and were calling for the
protesters to take up arms. Kitabat notes that the protesters rejected the notion. MWC adds, "Protest organisers in Ramadi, Fallujah and elsewhere, however, said that
they had no links to the group, and that they aimed to hold only
peaceful demonstrations."

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
This also applies to anyone writing to complain about a friend of mine. That's not why the public account exists.